Token dispenser including a motor driven reciprocating ejector



Oct. 4, 1966 P. EDDS 3,276,457

TOKEN DISPENSER INCLUDING A MOTOR DRIVEN RECIPROCATING EJECTOR FiledOct, 20, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet l i ELEC. courRoLs f Oct. 4, 1966 P. EDDs3,276,457

TOKEN DISPENSER INCLUDING A MOTOR DRIVEN RECIPRGCATING EJECTOR FiledOct. 20, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 j. 46134 .156450 04 JOE mi Jog UnitedStates Patent 3,276,457 TOKEN DISPENSER INCLUDING A MOTOR DRIVENRECIPROCATING EJECTOR Parker Edds, Ilain and Rea, Fain and Rea Bldg.,Branson, Mo. Filed Oct. 20, 1964, Ser. No. 405,103 Claims. (Cl. 13S-5)This invention relates to a dispenser, and more particularly to adevice, apparatus or mechanism for dispensing stamps, tokens, etc. to acustomer as an incident to depositing money in a coin controlled device.

Trading stamps, tokens and the like are widely distributed in connectionwith cash sales to stimulate trading at a particular location. Suchstamps generally are dispensed manually, and in some instances machineshave been utilized for dispensing stamps from rolls in accordance withcontrol buttons or the like pushed thereon. All such machines with whichI have been familiar heretofore have required the presence of anoperator.

In many enterprises, one prime factor in making the enterprise popularis the complete lack of an operator, or the coverage of a large numberof machines or the like by a single operator or Overseer. In particular,in coin operated laundromats, there may be only one operator or overseerfor -several dozen washing machines and driers, and it is even possiblefor such establishments to operate without any operator or Overseer atall. In accordance with the desire to maintain personnel at a minimum,each machine is provided with its own coin mechanism, and is operableonly upon receipt of one or more coins of suitable denomination.Obviously, trading stamps and the like are as desirable in a laundromatas anywhere elese, yet it is not feasible for an operator to be presenteach time a coin is deposited, with the operator thereafter to hand outthe requisite trading stamps, coupons or tokens.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide apparatus forautomatically dispensing a predetermined quantity of trading stamps,coupons, tokens or the like when coins are deposited in a coin operatedmachine.

More particularly, it is an object of this invention to provide a devicefor dispensing trading stamps and the like for connection to an existingcoin operated machine without the necessity of reworking the coinoperated machine in any substantial Way.

It is further an object of this invention to provide a device forautomatically dispensing trading stamps, coupons, tokens, etc. from thebottom of a vertical stack thereof.

It is further an object of the present invention in a dispensing deviceto provide a known construction in an unconventional environment toprovide hitherto unrecognized advantages.

It is further an object of this invention to provide a locked device fordispensing trading stamps and the like concomitant with operation of acoin operated device, wherein improved latching or lock means isprovided.

Other and further objects and advantages of the present invention willbe apparent from the following description when taken in connection withthe accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a trading stamp or the like dispensingapparatus constructed in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a somewhat schematic representation of a coin operated devicesuch as a washing machine with the present invention attached thereto;

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal, vertical sectional view through the apparatusof FIG. l as taken along the line 3-3 in FIG. 1;

3,276,457 Patented Oct. 4, 1966 FIG. 4 is a fragmentary sectional viewsimilar to FIG. 3 and showing the parts in a different position ofoperation; l

FIG. 5 is a horizontal cross-sectional View taken along the line 5-5 inFIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially along the line6-6 in FIG. 3; and

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of certain of the operating parts of theapparatus.

Reference should be had first to FIG. 2 for an understanding of theenvironment of the present invention. Accordingly, there is illustratedin a highly schematic manner a coin operated machine or device such as awashing machine 1l) having a coin receptacle 12 leading through a slugrejector 14 to a coin chute 16. The coin chute is provided with a switch18 having an operating member 20 projecting into the coin chute forengagement and operation by a coin passed by the slug rejector 14. Theswitch is connected to a suitable source of power such as a volt A.C.supply line 22 and. also to a solenoid 24 forming a part of the presentinvention. As will be appreciated, other voltages could be used, and thecurrent could be rectified to provide direct current to the solenoid.This is all well known, and forms no particular part of the presentinvention, since the present invention will work either with an A.C. ora DC. solenoid, and at any standard voltage.

The coin chute also contains the usual switch 26 with the operatingmember 28 projecting into the chute for starting an operating cycle ofthe machine electrical controls 30. The coin chute terminates in a coinbox 32 in accordance with the usual practice.

Turning now to the present invention, there will bie seen in FIGS. 1 and3-6 a dispensing apparatus 34. The dispensing device comprises agenerally rectangular housing 36 having a back wall 38 which is slightlyhigher than it is wide, and provided with a nut member 40 welded on theinner surface thereof. A door or bottom wall 42 is formed integral withthe back Wall 38 and is rather narrow relative thereto, from front toback. A right side wall 44 is similarly provided, and this is weldedalong its juncture to the floor 42. A top wall 46 also is provided, asis a left side wall 48, both being integral with the back wall 38 andwelded to one another at their juncture, and also respectively to theright side wall 44 and the floor 42.

The :left wall 48 is provided near the bottom thereof with a horizontaldispensing slot 5l) overlying a suitable catcher or receptacle 52.Trading startups or the like dispensed through the slot 50 ashereinafter set forth are received in this catcher or receptacle to beremoved manually by the customer.

Approximately the top half of the left 'wall 48 is provided with acentrally located, vertical slot 54. This slot communicates with asimilar slot 55 leading in from the left end of the top Wall 46, and isfor the purpose of providing fresh coupons, trading stamps or tokens tothe storage stack thereof in the machine or apparatus, as hereinafterset forth. An L-shaped steel strap 56 has a vertical leg 58 welded tothe inside of the left wall 48 and overlapping the slot or opening S4.Similarly, the strap 56 is provided with a horizontal leg 60 welded tothe t-op wall I46 and overlapping the `slot 55 therein. The near orforward edge of the strap 56 is recessed slightly from the front of thehousing 44, as perhaps :best seen at 62 in FIG. 1. The vertical leg 58of the strap extends from the top of the left Wall substantially to thebottom there-of.

There is Va similar L-shaped strap 64 of relatively lesser heightdisposed to the rear of the slot 48, and including a vertical leg 66overlapping the `slot 54 and terminating slightly below the bottom edgeof the slot, as may be seen in FIG. 1. In addition, the strap 64includes a 3 horizontal arm 68 secured to the underside of the top wall46 and overlapping the slot 55. The horizontal legs or arms of bothstraps 56 and 64 terminate just slightly to the right of the horizontalslot 55.

A sheet metal latch member 70 is secured below the undersi-de of the topwall 46 against the straps 56 and 64 by suitable fastening means such asscrews 72, although welding of this latch member in place also iscontemplated. The latch member extends betwee-n the L-shaped members 56and 64 and is provided with a downwardly turned tongue 74, in the natureof a strike. C-ooperatively therewith there is provided a conventionallock 76 operable by .a key 78. The lock is of a type capable of 90rotation with the key 7 8, and includes an arm 80 having a right angledend or ange 82 disposed for latching behind the tongue 74, whereby tohold the upper end of the sheet metal, L-shaped cover member `84 inplace, the cover member fitting closely within the slot 56 and carryingthe lock at its rear end in conventional fashion. The lower end of thecover member 84 is provided with a sheet metal detent 86 on its innersurface and extending downwardly therefrom to latch behind the left wall48 below the slot. The removal and lreinstallaltion of the cover memberwill be apparent from FIG. 3, the lock 76 .and ar-m 80 Iand flange 82being turned 90 so that the cover member can be pivoted from the normal,solid line position to the dashed line position, and then lifted up forcomplete removal from the housing.

The housing 36 is further provided with an L-shaped sheet metal strapI88 which is spot welded against the end wall 44 and floor 42, beingspaced in from the front the same distance as the L-shaped strap 56. TheL- shaped strap 56 Iand 88 between them form a stop for a front coverplate 90. The cover plate fits within the side walls, the top wall andfloor and butts against these two L-shaped plates. The front wall isprovided with a lock 92 of .a type c-apable of continuous rotation uponinsertion of a key 94. An exension 96 of the lock is provided with athreaded stud -98 which is designed to be threaded into the nut member40 on the back wall 3'8. Thus, the cover member is held tightly inplace, and can be removed only by several rotations of the lock by meansof the -key 94 to unthread the stud 98 from the nut member 40. Thus,access to the interior of the housing cannot be gained by picking thelock to produce a limited degree of rotation. IFurthermore, the threadedlocking is considerably stronger than any simple tongue type of lockwould be. Furrthermore, it allows the cover member to be tightened dow-nfirmly against the L-shaped stops 56 and 88, whereby positively topreclude any looseness or rattling.

inside of the housing and on top of the door 42 there is provided onoperating base 100. T-he operating base 100 includes a sub-base 102 of afibrous material such as chipboard secured to the floor by means such aswood screws 104 passing through the floor 42 and threaded into thesub-base 102. The sub-base has bonded thereto a plastic laminate '106 of.a conventional type used for counter tops and the like. In fact, thebase is of generally the same construction as many counter tops. Thebase 'is provided at the right end with a central, generally U- shapedrecess (108, hereinafter to be referred to.

The major portion of the base terminates short of the left end wall at'1110, as readily may be seen in FIG. 5. However, the base has aforwardly projecting tongue 112, as Ibest seen in FIG. 7. A magazine 114of substantially Vsquare cross section, and generally tubular in naturewith .an open front slot 116 has depending sidewalls 118 secured to thebase tongue 116 by means such as screws 120. The magazine is provided atthe left side thereof with a transverse opening 122 extending completelyacross the magazine. This opening 122 is aligned with the slot 50 in theleft end wall 48, and is of the same size.

' A plurality of a't, tablet-like dispensing units 124 is provided inthe magazine, and these are readily inserted from the top with the cover84 removed. The dispensing unit-s 124 are of a proper size to be pushededgewise out through the opening :122 .and the slot 50. The dispensingunits may comprise tablets or tokens, if so desired, or in accordancewith a preferred embodiment of the linvention Ithey comprise a doublelayer of pasteboard with trading stamps secured therebetween, thepasteboard to be torn open by the customer for use of the tradingstamps.

The sole-noid 24 hereinbefore referred to electrically is disposedimmediately to the right of 4the magazine 1114, and is of conventionalconstruction including a coil winding 126 on a laminated core 128. AT-shaped plunger or armature 130 is electrically attracted into the corefrom the rest position of FIG. 3 to the operated position of FIG. 4 whenthe solenoid coil is energized.

The solenoid is provided with laterally exten-ding base flanges 132, andspacer washers 13'4 and shim plates 136 are positioned between theseflanges and the plastic laminate 106 of the base 100. 'Screws or bolts138 pass up through the base, being counter sunk therein, and alsothrough the flanges 1132, having nuts 148 on the topends thereof tomount the 4solenoid in position.

The shims or spacer plates 136 are spaced apart a proper distance toform a guideway or track for the horizontal expelling member 150 of anL-shaped pusher member152 having an upstanding flange or tail 154` withan aperture or slot 156 near the upper end thereof, the slot beingvertically elongated. A rearward extension 158 on the solenoid plungerextends through the slot 156 and has a spring anchor 160 thereon. Ahelical spring 162 is stretched `between the anchor 160 and an anchormember in the form of a screw 164 in the recess 108 at the right end ofthe base 100.

It will be observed that the spring 162 biases the solenoid plunger andalso the pusher 152 in retracted position, and also holds down the rearend of the pusher.

The plastic laminate provides a remarkably goed slide base for thepusher member 152, while the heavy fibrous sub-base 102 takes up shocksof the solenoid operation.

Operation of the device will doubtless be apparent. With -the accesscover or lid 84 removed, the operator of the mechanism deposits asuitable number of tablets 124 in the magazine 114. Subsequently, when acustomer drops a coin in the slot 12 on the washing machine or otherdevice, closure of the switch 18 by the coin causes the solenoid 24 tobe energized momentarily. This pulls the plunger 130 in and advances thepusher 152, whereupon the expelling member 150 thereof pushes the bottomtablet 124 from the stack out through the opening 122 land slot 150 intothe catcher or receptacle 52 for manual removal by the customer. It isapparent that the switch 18 remains closed only for a short time, andthat the solenoid is practically immediately deenergized, whereupon thesolenoid plunger 130 and pusher 152 are retracted by the helical spring162.

The specic example of the invention as herein set forth is lby way ofillustration only, and changes in structure which may occur thoseskilled in the art will be understood as forming a part of the presentinvention insofar as they fall within the spirit and scope of theappended claims.

The invention is claimed as follows:

1. A dispenser for credit tokens and the like comprising a base, avertically elongated magazine mounted on said base and upstandingtherefrom for holding credit tokens or the like in a stack, said basehaving a horizontal slide surface, and said magazine having openingstherethrough on opposite sides and substantially on a level with saidslide surface, a pusher having a rest position and an advanceddispensing position, said pusher being L-shaped and having asubstantially horizontal lbody slidable across said slide surface andhaving a leg upstanding from said body in substantially parallel spacedrelation to said magazine, a solenoid mounted from said Ibase betweensaid magazine and said pusher leg, means interconnecting said solenoidand :said pusher leg and providingr a spring anchor on the side of saidleg opposite said solenoid, spring anchor means mounted from said base,and a spring extending between said spring anchor and said opening`anchor means and resiliently holding said pusher in rest position, saidsolenoid upon energization -thereof moving said pusher against saidspring to said advanced position with said ybody projecting into saidmagazine through one of said openings therein and ejecting a token orthe like through the opposite opening.

2. A dispenser `as set forth in claim 1 wherein the upstanding pusherleg has an aperture therein, and wherein the means interconnecting thesolenoid and the pusher leg comprises a member xed to said solenoid andprojecting through said aperture, said spring anchor bein-g secured tosaid member on the portion thereof projecting through said aperture.

3. A dispenser as set forth in claim 1 wherein the :spring anchor meansmounted from said base is at a lower elevation than the spring anchor,said spring 'being a helical spring disposed diagonally relative to saidslide surface and resiliently holding said pusher down against saidsurface as Well as in rest position.

4. A dispenser as set forth in claim 1 wherein the base has asubstantially horizontal projection thereon, said magazine being ofrectangular cross section having two sidewalls with said openingstherein and further having a pair of sidewalls disposed substantially atright angles to the first-mentioned sidewalls and depending 'below saidslide surface along opposite sides of said projection and served theretoto mount said magazine.

5. A dispenser as set forth in claim 1 wherein the base comprises arelatively thick sub-base of brous material with a relatively thinplastic laminate bonded thereto and forming the slide surface.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS ROBERT B. REEVES,Primary Examiner.

WALTER SOBIN, Examiner.

1. A DISPENSER FOR CREDIT TOKENS AND THE LIKE COMPRISING A BASE, AVERTICALLY ELONGATED MAGAZINE MOUNTED ON SAID BASE AND UPSTANDINGTHEREFROM FOR HOLDING CREDIT TOKENS OR THE LIKE IN A STACK, SAID BASEHAVING A HORIZONTAL SLIDE SURFACE, AND SAID MAGAZINE HAVING OPENINGSTHERETHROUGH ON OPPOSITE SIDES AND SUBSTANTIALLY ON A LEVEL WITH SAIDSLIDE SURFACE, A PUSHER HAVING A REST POSITION AND AN ADVANCEDDISPENSING POSITION, SAID PUSHER BEING L-SHAPED AND HAVING SUBSTANTIALLYHORIZONTAL BODY SLIDABLE ACROSS SAID SLIDE SURFACE AND HAVING A LEGUPSTANDING FROM SAID BODY IN SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL SPACED RELATION TOSAID MAGAZINE, A SOLENOID MOUNTED FROM SAID BASE BETWEEN SAID MAGAZINEAND SAID PUSHER LEG, MEANS INTERCONNECTING SAID SOLENOID AND SAID PUSHERLEG AND PROVIDING A SPRING ANCHOR ON THE SIDE OF SAID LEG OPPOSITE SAIDSOLENOID, SPRING ANCHOR MEANS MOUNTED FROM SAID BASE, AND A SPRINGEXTENDING BETWEEN SAID SPRING ANCHOR AND SAID OPENING ANCHOR MEANS ANDRESILIENTLY HOLDING SAID PUSHER IN REST POSITION, SAID SOLENOID UPONENERGIZATION THEREOF MOVING SAID PUSHER AGAINST SAID SPRING TO SAIDADVANCED POSITION WITH SAID BODY PROJECTING INTO SAID MAGAZINE THROUGHONE OF SAID OPENINGS THEREIN AND EJECTING A TOKEN OR THE LIKE THROUGHTHE OPPOSITE OPENING.